Legal Drama: Movies That Were Subject to Lawsuits
Steel Magnolias is the latest film subject to legal action.
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Steel Magnolias - Movies are meant to be entertainment for the masses, but sometimes result in vicious lawsuits that almost kept some of our favorite films out of theaters. The long-awaited remake of Steel Magnolias, starring Queen Latifah, is under attack by a producer for the original film who claims she was not consulted about the remake. She's asking a judge to stop the film's October 7 release unless she's paid a lump cash sum and a share of the profits. (Photo: TriStar Pictures)
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Book of Eli - Plagiarism is as rampant in Hollywood as Botox, but that doesn't fly with Georgia-based author Bridgette Burgin, who claims the story for this 2010 thriller was lifted from her unpublished manuscript after she submitted it for a writing competition. The case is still pending. (Photo: Silver Pictures)
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The Matrix - It's a tale as mind-bending as the matrix itself. For years, the media had championed the case of a middle-aged Black woman, Sophia Stewart, who claimed her registered manuscript is the basis for the blockbuster sci-fi film franchise. After a report floated that Stewart had won and been awarded $2.5 billion, which turned out to be false, the facts (or lack thereof) surfaced and Stewart's case started to seem more like a conspiracy theory aimed at big media. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)
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Avatar - Success has many fathers, and James Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster is no exception. The billion-dollar franchise has been sued by not one, but three individuals hoping to get their hands on Pandora's bounty. One of the suits has already been thrown out by a judge, but the other two are pending. (Photo: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox)
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Madea Goes to Jail - You would think praising Jesus would be above copyright protection, but Tyler Perry knows better. The filmmaker was sued by the family of deceased gospel singer Bertha James for allegedly "lifting" an entire verse of James' song "When I Think of the Goodness of Jesus" in his film Madea Goes to Jail. You gotta wonder, WWJD? (Photo: Courtesy Lionsgate)
Photo By Photo: Courtesy Lionsgate
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